What To Look For In Outdoor Wedding Venues

I had the absolute pleasure of photographing Danielle and Nick’s garden wedding in Ohio. While there I thought how perfect this venue was for an outdoor weddings and receptions, and how I need to share what to look for in outdoor wedding venues! Not all outdoor venues are created equally, but this one seemed to really have it all!

Note: Bridal photos were taken at Gervasi Winery. Reception photos were at a private residence.

Danielle & Nick

Before jumping into what to look for in outdoor wedding venues, I have to share about this darling couple! They met in college at OSU and Nick decided he wanted to ask Danielle out to a frat date party. A cute nod to his personality as a sports guy, he started the text with, “Going to go ahead and shoot my shot….” and asked her out.

Ever since their first date they have been blissfully together, and I can see why! They are the sweetest couple. Nick is very emotional, tearing up during their first touch while reading private vows, and when he saw Danielle for the first time walking down the aisle. And Danielle is head over heels for him! They are such a great match!

Also, a completely beautiful touch to their wedding day that speaks to who they are as a couple was their location choices. Danielle wanted to have their reception at her childhood home, which was stunning!In addition, Danielle and Nick were married in the same church that Danielle’s parents were married almost 40 years to the day of Danielle and Nick’s wedding date!

As a Columbus wedding photographer I have been to my fair share of outdoor weddings, and with that comes a lot of knowledge. There are obvious things to consider like the capacity of the location, what rentals are provided and accessibility to restrooms and service kitchens. However, today I want to share a few items that are not so obvious, along side how Nick and Danielle incorporated them into their wedding day.

It is important to note that Danielle and Nick had a private resident wedding, or in other words a backyard wedding of the bride’s childhood home. So, you won’t be able to rent this exact same space if you wanted to, but you can definitely take inspiration!

Paths & Patios

Something that made this wedding so comfortable for guests, and I recommend looking for in other outdoor wedding venues, are the paths and patios. The property featured brick paths then welcomed guests into the yard leading to a pergola, the poolside cocktail hour and other large patios. This not only sets up a flow for your reception, but also is much more comfortable that walking in grass. I have been to other outdoor weddings where to grass become muddy with all the foot traffic, so having more path and patio options eliminates that potential issue.

Building Architecture

Something that you may not consider when choosing a venue is the architecture of the building surrounding the outside space. For Danielle and Nick, the structures were her childhood home and held a dear place in her heart. However, when renting a venue know that although your wedding is outside, you will more than likely have bridal portraits around the buildings and they will probably also show up in the background. So be sure you equally love the look of the architectural features.

Direction

The direction that the venue, or residency, faces will play a big roll in your reception, especially if you are planning on an evening celebration. Ideally we don’t want to block the western sky. The sun sets in the west and if you have a large building or house blocking that, it may take away from the magic of golden hour. This is another thing that as a photographer I notice right away, but other people probably don’t think twice about.

Outdoor Wedding Venues Perks

It was incredibly sentimental to have her wedding in the home she grew up in. I definitely recommend it! It was such a sweet feeling walking into Danielle’s parent’s home with photos lining the walls of her and her three siblings. It was a full circle moment. This is where so much of Danielle’s lifewas and now she is back to marry the man of her dreams. Seeing Danielle’s mom help Danielle get ready, knowing her mom spent years raising Danielle in that same room – just gives me chills!

Another perk of having a private residential space for your venue is that you don’t have rules and regulations. Danielle and Nick could do whatever they wanted on the lawn! They decided on a tented reception and hired a planner to help transform the backyard into a complete dream! With cocktail hour at the pool, a clear top tent, and a modern checkered pattern dance floor, this property was completely customized to my couple.

Sentimental Touches

I would be amiss if I didn’t share some of my favorite sentimental touches from this wedding day! Firstly, the prep the Danielle’s mom put into her yard for weeks before the wedding was so sweet. The wedding happened in the middle of a “drought” we had in Ohio. Literally didn’t rain for weeks. Danielle’s parent’s meticulously watered the grass and plants at their home to make sure it was green for the wedding – this was joked about during the day how every time Danielle would call her mom the weeks leading up to the wedding, her mom was always out watering the plants because it was so dry!

Then there were little nods to the property in the wedding decor. They used magnolia leaves in the florals because there are magnolia trees on the property. With not only were sentimental, I felt like it tied the reception decor to the backdrop. Creating a very harmonious look!

Finally, the cocktail napkins! The napkins were custom made and had the first text that Nick had sent to Danielle asking her out (the one I referenced above). This was a tender way to reminisce on how far they had come as a couple, and share part of their story with their guests.

Vendor Team

This wedding was by far the nicest wedding I’ve ever photographed. The vendor team did an incredible transforming the space into Danielle’s dream wedding! I feel honored to have been able to work along side all of them. They all did incredible work and truly made Danielle and Nick’s day just incredible!

Full Service Planning & Design – Sirpilla Soirees

Photographer – Ashleigh Grzybowski

Videographer – Shbeeb Weddings

Content Creator – Wedding Days with Dania

Floral Design – Wild Vine Floristry

Catering – Dishes by Design

DJ – One T Entertainment

Bartenders – A Personal Touch

Cake – Checkerboard Cheesecake

Rentals – Sully’s Rentals, Borrow Curated

Speciality Linens – L’Nique

Stationary – Brittney Nichole Designs